MORTAR 



3958 



MORTGAGE 



The average death rate is affected by such 

 constant causes as race, climate, age, etc., and 

 by such irregular causes as war, famine and 

 pestilence. The tendency of mortality to di- 

 minish with the progress of civilization is now 

 established by statistics. The average age of 

 Americans at death in 1890 was 31.1 years; in 

 1900 it was 35.2, and in 1912, 40.6. The aver- 

 age annual death-rate per thousand in 1900 was 

 17.8, in 1912, 13.9. In 1912 the only important 

 countries of the world having lower death rates 

 than the United States were the following: 

 Norway (13.4 per 1,000), England and Wales 

 (13.3), Denmark (13), Holland (12.3), Austra- 

 lia (11.2) and New Zealand (8.9). Canada's 

 rate is above. See LIFE, LENGTH OF. 



MOR'TAR, a vessel made of hard wood, 

 stone, marble, pottery, glass or metal, in which 

 substances are pounded into powder by the use 



STONE AND GLASS MORTARS 

 With pestles. 



of a pestle. Porcelain and glass mortars are 

 used principally by druggists and chemists. In 

 the early days the mortar of wood was a house- 

 hold commodity, being used when grain and 

 seeds were pounded into meal and powder. The 



first mills, emplo3 r ed for the grinding of corn. 

 :;.ortars made of stone and hard wood. 



MORTGAGE, mawr'gayj. A farmer wants 

 to increase the Output of his farm by adding 

 modern planting, cultivating and threshing ma- 

 chinery, but is short of ready money. A fam- 

 ily owning a home has an opportunity to secure 

 the adjoining lot at a bargain, yet cannot im- 

 mediately produce the full purchase price. A 

 husband and wife living in a rented flat decide 

 to buy a home of their own, but have only a 

 few hundred dollars in the bank to invest. 



One way in which, these people can carry out 

 their plans is to arrange with some bank, real 

 estate firm or private investor for a loan 

 amounting to only part of the property's value 

 giving a mortgage on the entire property as 

 security for the repayment of the money. The 

 mortgage is virtually a sale or transfer of the 

 property to the lender, or mortgagee; but it 

 differs from an actual sale in that the borrower, 

 or mortgagor, remains in possession; and such 

 tentative sale is canceled if, by the time speci- 

 fied, the debt is repaid with the interest agreed 

 upon. This explains the derivation of the word 

 mortgage, which is the French equivalent for 

 dead pledge. 



The Mortgage Deed. In a formal document, 

 also called the mortgage, are set forth an ac- 

 curate description of the property for purposes 

 of identification, and a clear statement of the 

 conditions of payment. There may also be 

 clauses ruling the entire debt payable if mort- 

 gagor fails at any time to 'pay interest, taxes 

 and assessments, as agreed, or giving the mort- 

 gagee power to sell without the formality of 

 foreclosure proceedings, should the mortgagor 

 be unable to repay the loan. This record, 

 which must be filed at the county recorder's 

 office, protects innocent third parties who might 

 otherwise purchase the property for its full 

 value without knowing there was a mortgage 

 upon it. 



Default and Foreclosure. In case the mort- 

 gagor is unable to meet the mortgage when it 

 falls due, and fails to renew it, he is said to 

 default. In former times this meant that the 

 mortgagee acquired the property without 

 further action, even though its value might far 

 exceed the money due him. This was accord- 

 ing to the common-law theory of mortgages, 

 which considered the title to the property in- 

 vested in the mortgagee. The modern inter- 

 pretation is that the mortgagor is the true pos- 

 sessor and has a right to redeem until deprived 

 of that privilege by formal foreclosure. 



